John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Images of rebuilding tend to be bittersweet. A home is rebuilt after a fire; New Orleans was rebuilt after flooding that accompanied Hurricane Katrina; relationships are rebuilt after there has been heartache, challenges, and reconciliation. In order to be rebuilt, we must first be torn down.
In this week’s Gospel, Jesus speaks from a deep knowledge of the interconnectedness of destruction and rebuilding. His own destruction of the money changers in the temple is an overturning of a system perpetuating economic injustice. Jesus’ teachings are about divine transformation: overcoming oppressive systems of greed and rebuilding an economy of divine abundance.
This week, the focus of living into our sacred space asks us to rebuild. True to the message of the Gospel, we will consider rebuilding from areas that require first being overturned: rebuilding hope from fear; rebuilding justice in the aftermath of inequity; rebuilding growth after loss.
What do you need to rebuild?
Where is God in this?
How do we support the transformation and rebuilding of our communities of faith?
Sacred Space 